As the name suggests, rice flour is rice in its milled form, all powdered up. Made from a specific steeping process, rice flour is used as a major substitute to wheat flour in a lot of distinct cases. It is used differently and for different purposes in various regions of Asia and in North America which include sweet rice confectionaries, rice noodles, and much else. Apart from food, this flour also has other benefits for which it is used, but that is not central to what lies ahead.
Rice flour is rich in nutrients. This can be said more for brown rice flour than white rice flour for the former is obtained with an outer husk still intact while the latter with its husk removed. This husk has a high level of vitamin B and is also rich in fibers and minerals such as calcium and zinc. White and brown rice both can be used interchangeably as an ingredient. In most cases. 88
If you look for healthy, nutritious ingredients to cook/experiment with or are on a nutritionist-prescribed diet and eat healthy only, running out of ideas probably must have happened to you. It is time you tried rice flour.
Going down, you will find some healthy rice flour recipes with the needed ingredients and instructions on how to cook them.
Happy reading!
- Gluten-Free Fresh Pasta
A gluten-less diet is for people looking to avoid heavy food and want to go easy, usually, those diagnosed with celiac disease, and have been prescribed a specific diet. You can choose to eat gluten-free regardless as it is a healthy alternative.
Ingredients:
- One and a half cup of brown rice flour
- Half a cup of potato starch
- Two tablespoons of Xanthum Gum
- One tablespoon of salt
- Four eggs
Process:
Start by gently sifting the flour, potato starch, the Xanthum gum—it matters not should you not have this one, the recipe can be made without it as well—and salt. Now, take a separate bowl and whisk the eggs in it. Don’t put them directly into the mixer as it is not professionally preferable.
You blend the eggs now. Do so in a free-standing blender until the texture is all doughy. Blend the flour as well. Pro-tip: gluten-free flour shouldn’t be mixed with the dough as it lacks the protein that is needed to keep it from stiffening up.
Next, make small balls out of the dough. Use some oil so that friction is minimized and you can go about the process easily.
You need a pasta machine for what comes next. However, there are alternatives for carrying out this step. But we recommend the machine. With it, roll out the dough into a thin sheet. You can use a rolling pin as well to roll it flat. Just like how the Asian roti/chapati is made, roll it as well as you can, spreading the dough across. Using a knife, cut the dough into thin strips. This is your pasta.
Boil this pasta with water and add salt. Let it simmer until cooked. When done, put in whatever sauce you please (you will have to make the sauce separately or buy one ready-made). Serve while hot.
- Coconut Dumplings
This is originally an Indian recipe that goes by the name Modak. However, it is made from the same basic ingredients any other dumplings are made from.
Ingredients:
- Half a cup of coconut shavings
- One and half a cup of rice flour
- Two teaspoons salt
- One tablespoon oil
- Half a cup of water
Process:
To start off, you need to mix some of the basic ingredients in a bowl. These include the coconut shavings, the flour, a teaspoon of salt, and some oil. This is for creating the dough needed to move ahead into the dumpling-making process. Put in some water in the bowl and begin stirring. This will thicken the contents of the bowl.
Once satisfied, take it out and start kneading it. Expertly use your hands—your knuckles, to be precise—and knead it. Go about this process for about two minutes. Once done, roll the dough out flat on a surface with a pin. This is so you can easily crop out shapes for the dumplings. You can use whatever mold you need. However, dumplings are usually diamond-shaped. It would do you good to stick to it. Make these dumplings now with the ingredients. In a large pot of water, with a pinch of salt, but these dumplings in and cook for ten minutes.
Serve hot.
- Steamed Rice Cake
This is a rather not-that-ventured recipe and not many give it a shot. Also, there is no diabetic alternative for steamed rice cake. Unless you want to cook sugarless, really-bad sweet. Go ahead and read on.
Ingredients
- 250 grams of water-milled rice flour
- 50 grams of plain flour
- 120 grams to 150 grams of sugar
- 210 ML of hot water
- 5 grams of instant yeast
- Oil for brushing
Process:
The first thing you need to do is dissolve the sugar in hot water and refrigerate it to cool down. You can also set it aside cool at room temperature (under 38 degrees and no more, preferably).
Next, in a large mixing bowl, mix the rice flour, the plain flour, and the yeast and stir in sugar liquid. Make sure you are thorough and the batter is well-mixed. Set it aside to ferment for about four hours. This depends on the batter, really. For some it takes time. While it doesn’t for the rest. But four hours is the ideal time limit.
Brush the molds with oil and scoop the liquid up to eighty percent. Bring the water to a boil in a wok and then steam the cakes for twenty minutes over high fire. Wait for a minimum of five minutes, take them off, let them cool down a little and gently de-mold them when they are still warm.
And you are done. Do note that these cakes are to be served warm. Should you need to, reheat them!
- Gluten-Free Pancakes
Who doesn’t like pancakes? With this recipe, you can go all healthy on your favorite pancakes without compromising too much on the taste.
Ingredients:
- 175 grams or six ounces of tapioca flour
- 175 grams or six ounces of rice flour
- Half a teaspoon of salt
- Four large eggs, preferably free-range, lightly beaten
- 350 ML milk, or 12 ounces of any dairy-free alternative
- Four tablespoons of melted butter
Process:
Sifting the tapioca flour, the rice flour, and the salt into a large bowl is the first step. Hollow out the middle and then, in the center, drop in the lightly beaten eggs. Whisk-mix the eggs eventually bringing in the flour mixture. Add the milk slowly and beat until the batter is smooth and has bubbled up.
Next, refrigerate the pancake batter for at least one hour. Before cooking the batter, whisk it again to unsettle any flour that may have settled at the bottom. To cook the pancakes, heat a heavy cast-iron or non-stick frying pan until noticeably hot. Using a ladle, pour in just enough batter to cover the base of the pan thinly. Loosen the pancake around the edge, and flip it over with a utensil. Cook both sides evenly then flip it off on to a plate.
Refrigerate them keeping a thin sheet of paper in between each so that they do not stick.
- Coconut and Chocolate Balls
Coconut and chocolate balls can be made in a number of ways. From this lot, though, it is the easiest-to-make recipe.
Ingredients:
- A packet of arrowroot biscuits
- 1/3 a cup of cocoa powder
- A cup of desiccated coconut
- 395 grams of condensed milk
Process:
To start off, crush the arrowroot biscuits and put them into a mixing bowl. Add the cocoa powder and the desiccated coconut and stir them together. Later, add up the condensed milk. Once satisfied with stirring it, take small-small amounts of the mixture and roll them into balls. Roll each ball through some more coconut to texturize.
One done, refrigerate for thirty minutes.
Conclusion:
Liked what you read? Have we awakened your inner cook? You would have been surprised, we bet, to learn that so many recipes can be made with just some powdered rice in its flour form. And yet they taste delicious and are nutritious in function. Give Shafi Gluco Chem’s rice flour a go by booking a sample and trying it out with the easy-to-make recipes up above.
